Sri:
Tathva Muktha Kalaapam of Swamy
Desikan
The Tatthva Muktha Kalaapam (TMK) is one of
the four magnificient philosophical
gems of Swamy Desikan . The other
three are Satha DhUshaNi , NyAya
Parisuddhi
and NyAya SiddhAnjana. TMK
is categorized as a PrakaraNa grantham , a manual
or independent treatise to present and
defend VisishtAdhvaithic doctrines
and to evaluate critically the deficiencies
in the rival philosophical systems .
While Satha DhUshaNi confined itself to the
criticism of Advaitham alone , TMK went farther
and provided
a comprehensive evaluation of
the metaphysical doctrines ( Tathvaas)
of significant
rival schools
of thought . With the sure
footedness of a Master gymnast ,
Swamy Desikan created TMK in the form of 500 verses in the majestic Sragdhara meter
to house his dialectical arguments in poetry
.
The Taarkika Simham ( the Lion among
the Logicians) combined his extraordinary
poetic skills with those of
his dialectic skills
to bless us with 500 verses brimming with
such elegance about the serious topics of philosophy . No body has
ever dared to
achieve this extraordinary feat .
Regarding his scope of coverage in TMK ,
Swamy Desikan paraphrases
the statement of
Sage VyAsa about Mahaa Bhaaratham and
describes : " what is not
considered here ( TMK)
can not be found elsewhere " .
Swamy Desikan is referring to
the topics on Philosophy here .
Regarding the name selected by Swamy
Desikan for this PrakaraNa grantham ,
he was inspired by the passage in
VishNu PurANam , which refers to the Tatthvams
as ornaments of the Lord . Swamy
Desikan , a long term resident of Srirangam
at the time of creating this Sri
Sookthi decided to name this grantham as
" Pearl ( mukta ) ornament ( KalApa)
of metaphysical doctrines ( Tathvaas )".
Swamy Desikan , who had offered
MummaNikkOvai ( three strands of Pearls ),
a Tamizh Prabhandham as a garland to
Sri HemAbhjavalli ThAyAr of Thiru Ayindhai
decided to offer a Five strand Pearl
ornamnet to Lord RanganAtha this time .
The five pearl strands are the five
major parts of TMK : (1) dhravya (substance) ,
(2) Jeeva ( Individual Soul) , (3)
Iswara( God) , (4) Buddhi ( Knowledge) and
(5) adhRavya ( non-substance) . TMK
is a treasured bhUshaNam ( AabharaNam )
of Lord RanganAtha ,
which He adorns with great joy.
The rival schools of philosophy
examined by Swamy Desikan in TMK
to establish the soundness of
VisishtAdhvaitham and to expose
the deficiencies of Para Mathams are
: NyAya and VaisEshika , Saankya
and Yoga ,Poorva Mimaamsa , VedAntha
( BHAskara, Yaadhava PrakAsa
and Sankara) , the four schools of
Buddhism , Jianism and ChArvAkam .
No wonder Swamy Desikan said in TMK
: " yannAsmin kvApi naitath "
( What is not considered here can
not be found elsewhere ) .
Swamy Desikan blessed us with a
commentary for TMK to elucidate
the fine points taken up in TMK .
The name given by Swamy Desikan
to this commentary is SarvArTa
Siddhi . Dr. V.N.SeshadhriyAcchAr
Swamy
of Oppiliappan
Sannidhi has submitted his Doctoral Thesis on
SarvAta Siddhi in English at
Annamalai University . SarvArTa Siddhi is
a testament to the wide ranging
knowledge of Swamy Desikan on
all the Indian Phiosophical Systems
. Abhinava Desika UtthamUr
Swamy has blessed us with a glossary
named " alabhya laabha: " ,
which covers both TMK and SarvArTa
Siddhi .
Dr.S.M.S. Chari has published in
1988 a scholarly treatise named
" VisishtAdhvaitha VedAntha" ,which
s a study based on Swamy
Desikan's Tatthva Muktha Kalaapa .
adiyEn has
benefitted greatly
from this monograph
in English and will touch base with it .
The main purpose of the e-book on
Tatthva Muktha Kalaapam
is to connect the content with the
200 plus Swamy Desika Sahsra
Naamams bequeathed to us by the
Founder of the Muni Thraya
SamprahAyam , Thirukkudanthai
Desikan . adiyEn will attempt to
focus on the individual nAmAs
dealing with TMK following
closely the scholarly commentary of
NavalpAkkam Dr. VasudEvAcchAr
Swamy . The subject matter is tough
and would need a lot of familiarity
with Philosophical terms and Jn~Anam
on tarkam . adiyEn is not blessed
with such Jn~Anam but adiyEn will
try to summarize the highlights of
the elucidations in an easy to
understand manner .
adiyEn will just post this
introduction in the lists and complete the rest
and present it in the upcoming
e-book on Tatthva Muktha KalApam .
Swamy Desika ! Tava DaasOham
!
Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan
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